8 Tips To Master Travel Photography

Travel photography is exciting but it can be quite tricky as well. If you aren't smart about the art, you will find yourself with a heap of mediocre photographs. These photographs won't convey what you want them to and are often bleak in their narration.

There are certain travel photography tips to help you hit that elusive “X factor” in your pictures. As you know, it is not about one click. A perfect photo is a combination of composition, balance, patterns, colors, and storytelling.

It may sound intimidating at first. But with a little practical thinking it becomes quite simple. For your ease, we will break down these top travel photography tips. These tips will help you click phenomenal pictures and wow your viewers.

1. Follow The Rule Of Thirds

The rule of thirds is the holy grail of canvas composition. Keep this travel photography tip handy even while shooting indoors. This is how it works.

Visualize the scene in front of you as an image split into three broad divisions. Find the setting on your device that places four lines on the image, two horizontal and two vertical. If you are shooting with a mobile phone, “Enable Grid Lines” with default specification 3x3. Now, position one of your key elements in the upper two regions and another in the lower one. This is the ideal setting you are looking for.

This travel photography tip will change the way you used to capture outdoor visuals. For example, say you are shooting a sunset. Let the sky take up two-thirds of the image and the land take up one third. If you are clicking the ocean, the water takes up one third and likewise.

Another way of working with this tip is to place objects in the intersections of these lines. If there is a boat in your picture of the ocean, position the boat on the intersection of grid lines. These points are prime focal points that our eyes automatically get drawn to. This is one of the best travel photography tips for iPhone and Android users. It is simple and never fails to produce the most wonderful pictures.

2. Know Your Equipment

Expensive equipment is not the key to fantastic photos. Of course, having a DSLR or a mirrorless camera is great and it can help you take amazing pictures. But, no matter what camera you have, it’s important that you understand how it works. This is one of the most important travel photography tips for beginners.

Explore every setting on your device. Watch tutorials on how to get the most benefit out of the camera you currently own. Don’t think that you can’t achieve a certain level of photography because you don’t own expensive gear. Invest your time and effort in the devices you have and get to know them as much as you can.

3. Be Wise About The Contrast

It goes without saying that good color composition makes your photos impressive. This is one of the best photography tips to use in all your pictures. Check out this color wheel to understand it better.

Image by Canva

Colors that are opposite to each other tend to work very well together. For example, let’s take blue and yellow. A deep blue sky can go great with a yellow building or sunflower or even outfit. Pink flowers in green fields. Orange sunset in a blue sky. There are plenty of different combinations presented to you by nature itself. Find contrasting colors in your surroundings to take pictures of. These colors don’t have to be equally distributed. Your picture can be one color with splashes of another complementary shade.

4. Use Leading Lines

As a photographer, it is up to you to make your photo interesting and easy to enjoy for your viewers. Leading lines are naturally present lines that you use to guide the viewer’s eye to the main point of interest.

Capturing the photo this way is one of the best travel photography tips for anyone to follow. There are many potential leading lines you can find in your scenic locations. It can be a winding road, valley, river, or railway track.

These lines help to captivate your viewer and enthrall them with the main subject of your image. This is a travel photography tip that we recommend you to try.

5. Understand patterns and composition

As mentioned before, you need to nail the composition to get the perfect travel photos. There may be times when you question why your photos don’t look as good as the breathtaking places you visit. This may be because you are doing a few things wrong. As a result, you are not able to capture the wholesome beauty of the location.

This travel photography tip will get rid of this concern once and for all. Remember to take pictures in this format: foreground, middle-ground, and background. For example, say you are taking photos of a hillside landscape. Your foreground should be far from your lens, but closer than the hills and the other components. This foreground can be a rock, an object, or an animal.

The middle-ground should lie between the foreground and the background. In this case, it could be a small house or a few trees. The background is, of course, the farthest from you. In this case, some majestic hills.

In case you do not have a foreground, you can ask your friend or any person to take that place. If you have a tripod, you can even do it yourself. Deciding the composition through these travel photography tips will give your photos balance. They will also help in maintaining the scale.

6. Don’t Forget The Human Element

This is one of the best travel photography tips for beginners to make note of. Many people think it is better to focus on the beauty of the scenery before us. It might make your photo much more interesting if you incorporate a human element in them. Click your subject in such a way that they are anonymous and their face isn’t seen. You do not have to stick to this rule strictly though. Experiment with different poses and find the one that works best. Take inspiration from the viral “Follow me” pictures by Murad Osmann on Instagram. These photos make viewers feel as if they are personally experiencing the journey. Anyone who sees your pictures should be able to enjoy your travel adventures in a special, unique way. This brings us to our next point.

7. Tell A Story

Pictures are a great way of story-telling and here’s why. You may have a phenomenal picture of the view from a mountain top. But, what about the story behind it? The four-hour trek, the vigorous climbing, joking with your friends, and finally watching the sunset from a towering peak.

Let your pictures reflect this heartwarming story. You may not be able to cover every detail, but you can introduce some meaningful elements to your picture. Humanize your photos with emotions and strike a chord with your viewers. Don’t overlook this travel photography tip in the pursuit of technical perfection.

8. Be Creative

As generic as this sounds, it is another one of the best travel photography tips. Make your photos stand out from the thousands of travel photos that exist today. Most outdoor locations are quite obvious and are good photo spots. But there are other unusual places that go undiscovered by most people.

Go off the beaten track and explore the places you visit. A good photographer can make a beautiful location look good. But a great photographer can make the most unconventional subject come alive.

If you can photograph an offbeat, bizarre location and bring out the magic hidden in it, you have come a long way.

These travel photography tips will help you click high-quality, epic photos. With these photography tips, you will be able to archive a piece of every trip or journey you go on. The best way you can get these tips right is through lots and lots of practice and experimentation.

The best medium to practice your skills, is GoSocial. On GoSocial, you get a chance to connect with different photographers. Based on their constructive feedback, you can hone your skills further. Take part in challenges and get inspired by the work of other creators. You can also build your community and work on your photography skills every day.

We hope this list of travel photography tips has been useful for you. Try them on your next trip or a casual day out. And, while capturing the perfect moment is great, living in it is priceless. Don’t forget to enjoy yourself and have fun!